A partisan press release issued through the Department of Information cannot be sanctioned because it was issued by cabinet rather than an individual minister, parliament’s standards commissioner has said.
Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi concluded that while the press release used a partisan tone and should not have been sent out on official channels, he could do nothing about it.
The case stems from a complaint made to Azzopardi’s office by surgeon and political columnist Kevin Cassar on July 2, about a DOI-issued press release published that same day.
The press release came in reaction to a Times of Malta exclusive which revealed that Steward Health Care had bankrolled a smear campaign that targeted, among other people, former deputy prime minister Chris Fearne.
In it, the government claimed that the Opposition had been out to “destroy” Fearne from the moment he was named as Malta’s nominee to the European Commission and that it was “never interested in Malta’s position but rather in short-term political gain.”
The press release was issued by the government and cabinet, rather than any individual ministry.
Cassar flagged the press release as partisan, noting that Azzopardi’s office had previously chastised minister Silvio Schembri for issuing partisan statements and warned that the commissioner would “take a more serious view of similar future cases”.
When asked about the press release, Prime Minister Robert Abela argued that the press release concerned cabinet discussions, which were privileged and not subject to the parliamentary commissioner’s scrutiny.
Commissioner Azzopardi, a former chief justice, dismissed that line of argument.
However, he concluded that another section in the law – article 13 (4) of the Standards in Public Life Act – meant the complaint could not be investigated.
Article 13 (4) notes that the commissioner “shall not prejudice the powers and prerogatives of the Prime Minister in respect of the Cabinet”.
Commissioner Azzopardi cited a 2021 report by his predecessor to justify that decision. That report, by Azzopardi’s predecessor George Hyzler, included a letter Hyzler had written to Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri in which Hyzler said he “agreed” that the commissioner’s role was to investigate individual MPs and ministers’ actions, not cabinet decisions.
“Therefore article 13(4) of the Act prevents this complaint from being investigated,” Commissioner Azzopardi concluded, emphasising that in his view the government was abusing Article 13 (4) and acting against the spirit of the Act.
“It is worrying that in this case, no action can be taken against acts which would be deemed unethical if done by an individual minister,” the commissioner noted.
In a similar case concluded last month, the standards commissioner reprimanded Energy Minister Miriam Dalli for having issued a partisan statement through her ministry. Dalli apologised for the statement’s “tone”.